Action Points Guide: Daily AP Optimization

Action Block Types and Scheduling

Each day divides into morning, afternoon, and evening blocks unless story scripts override the schedule with forced sleep or emergency scenes. Gold story markers consume assigned blocks automatically when triggered — you choose order only when multiple gold markers share a day, which happens twice in mid-game and frequently during crisis week.

Optional activities — jobs, shopping, companion visits, district exploration, training fights — require you to assign blocks manually on the city map. Unspent optional blocks expire at day end. They never bank to tomorrow.

Evening blocks access night market and higher-risk Slums content. Morning blocks favor Market jobs and lodging meetings. Afternoon blocks split between companion routes and investigation travel time.

Tutorial and Early Game AP Budget

Days 1–5 tutorial: follow Day 1–5 — only Day 3 onward has meaningful optional blocks. Target one job plus one companion visit per two-day cycle while clearing map counters.

Early Game (post-Day 5): assume three blocks daily with gold markers consuming one to two days per week. Weekly template: four days gold-first, two days job/companion flex, one maintenance day for shopping and training. Start Slums witness chain evenings immediately when night market opens.

Waste to avoid: shopping twice same day in separate blocks — inventory and prices do not require duplicate trips.

Mid Game AP Pressure

Noble Quarter banquets consume entire evenings without optional overlap. Days with banquets should pre-shop morning and push companion blue markers to adjacent days. Escort assignments do not cost extra blocks but require companion availability — schedule blue markers on companions not assigned to banquet escort that evening.

Micoco reunion day consumes two blocks via mandatory fight and registration scenes — do not plan optional jobs that day.

Investigation turn-ins at lodging cost no block if done during morning meeting scene; turning in clues by traveling to wrong NPC wastes afternoon travel blocks — common AP leak.

Crisis Week AP Emergency Mode

When countdown starts, treat optional blocks as emergency reserves only. Typical crisis day: one block gold story, one block tactical mission or travel, one block companion crisis or shopping if supplies low. Zero optional exploration unless journal shows incomplete true-ending thread with hard deadline same day.

Smoke bomb escapes from random Slums encounters still consume partial time — not free AP saves.

True ending routes need at least two spare blocks across entire countdown for turn-in and finale puzzle sequences — plan by mid-game, not day before finale.

AP Recovery Myths and Companion Passives

No item restores yesterday's expired blocks. Some companion passives extend evening availability once per week — documented on Companion Abilities — but do not create fourth blocks.

Fast travel between save points and lodging saves in-map time flavor only; block consumption is unchanged.

Updated June 2026 after launch verification of block costs for jobs, fights, and shopping on PC retail build.

Sample Weekly Calendar (Early Game)

Monday pattern: morning gold, afternoon companion blue, evening job. Tuesday: morning gold, afternoon map sweep, evening Slums clue. Wednesday: maintenance shop morning, flexible afternoon, companion evening. Repeat with adjustments when gold markers stack two on one day — drop optional job, never drop registration or turn-in.

Mid-game banquet weeks shatter this template — see Mid Game walkthrough for banquet-adjacent calendar resets.

Crisis week calendar is gold-first every day — optional blocks only for turn-ins and shopping emergencies.

Action Point FAQ Cross-Reference

Players asking "can I do X and Y same day" should compare block costs: most companion scenes one block, most jobs one block, district sweep half block travel plus one block interaction, tactical missions one to two blocks depending on script. Doubling up requires unused block remaining after gold assignment.

Refer to How to Play for system definitions; this page stays numerical and scheduling focused.

Crisis Week Block Budget Table

Day Type	Morning	Afternoon	Evening
Standard crisis day	Gold marker	Tactical or travel	Shop or companion crisis
Dual gold day	Gold A	Gold B	Shop only if broke
Penultimate day	Gold marker	Tactical mission	Prep consumables
Final day	Finale puzzle	Finale choice	Epilogue only

Deviation costs true ending margins — treat table as default until checklist complete.

Early and Mid Game Block Examples

Early Game typical day: morning gold (1), afternoon companion (1), evening job (1) — full schedule. Mid-game banquet day: morning gold (1), afternoon prep shopping (1), evening banquet forced (1) — zero flexible blocks. Plan flex days before and after banquet clusters.

Underspending blocks Early Game hurts true ending; overspending optional blocks mid-game without thread progress hurts crisis readiness — balance using weekly calendar in this page's earlier section.

Action point costs are fixed per activity type in retail build — community datamine values belong on Combat and Items pages; walkthrough references costs qualitatively only to reduce patch drift if hotfixes adjust numbers post-launch.

When to Break the Budget Rules

Break strict AP budgeting only for same-day hard deadline journal tags, mandatory gold markers that stack two per day, or companion blue markers about to expire per walkthrough notes. Never break budget for optional Micoco callbacks during crisis week unless achievement hunting on Slot 5 laboratory save.

If breaking budget becomes daily habit before crisis, your save is already behind true ending curve — reload pre-banquet or pre-crisis save rather than continuing optimistic scheduling.

Action Points page pairs with Early and Mid walkthrough chapters — read once at Early Game start and skim again entering Mid Game banquet week for calendar reset.

Gold markers occasionally appear without warning same-day — keep one unassigned block in Mid and Late game weeks when possible as emergency buffer for surprise story scheduling.

Updated June 2026 — action block costs verified against PC launch build one point zero. Companion evenings always cost one full block unless story script marks them free.

Morning blocks cannot become evening blocks — expired morning optional time is lost even if afternoon and evening remain unused. Action Points guide updated June 2026 at launch on Windows PC retail build one point zero verified officially.